Propagation

 XV
When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.  

William Shakespeare

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

I've been sowing seed this month. It is that time of year where the fruits of the season are just waiting to ripen and drop, or be carried off by birds or squirrels or the wind. In order to be successful in germinating these seeds, I try to pay close attention to how nature manages this for any given plant and try to replicate the process.

For example, I collected Magnolia macrophylla seed pods about 6 weeks ago. I left them to dry out a bit more, then pulled the beautiful red seeds from the pod. The red part is actually a fleshy covering that would eventually deteriorate over the course of the winter. However, if you soak the seed for a few days, the fleshy part loosens up, and you can just squeeze the seed right out of it.

So, I did just that.


After getting the seed out, I rinsed them off well, and sowed them in a container with some soil and lots of perlite and put them in the mist benches to overwinter. The perlite would give them excellent drainage so that I could make sure they were moist but not so wet that they would rot. By now it was cool outside, and I figured that the seeds would spend the cool and cold season hibernating, and then, if I was lucky, emerge with the warm weather in spring.

In about two weeks, the seed began to sprout! Obviously, cold weather played no inhibitive part in this process. In fact, after reading further about these seeds, their requirements were described as Morphophysiological Dormancy. Not only seasonal changes, but an immature embryo that required further growth (morphological) plus both cold and warm stratification periods (physiological) might inhibit germination for a period of a year or more! "Because of this complicated dormancy treatment, seeds with Morphophysiological Dormancy can be difficult to germinate for beginning gardeners." http://www.uky.edu/hort/propagation-bigleaf-magnolia
Yet for me, these seed, once shed of their coats and kept moist, came right up without the need for any other treatment. Surprise!!! Now I have to find a way to keep them from freezing in the winter months.

Likewise, a batch of white Nandina seed sown last year have just started coming up in a pot I had given up on. The seed were soaked and sown last fall. That means that they had a cold period, then an extended warm period, then back to cold. Here we are in short days and cold temps, and the nandina has started sprouting. Surprise!! Another batch of shivering seedlings to cuddle this winter.

Procreation and propagation is the basic life force that runs through all of nature. Built in to every life is the goal of continuance. I don't have an explanation for the above seedlings, but I do know that the push may have overcome whatever I did or didn't do correctly.

While I've been trying to figure out the tiny details, it seems that both my children have decided to surprise me with tiny "details " of their own. Finally, that force that makes me yearn for grandchildren has now caught up with BOTH of my children. We should be showing off some beautiful little propagules next spring and summer. That seems to me about perfect timing. Surprise!!

"The word "miracle" aptly describes a seed."
-  Jack Kramer

The Touch of Fall and Tug of Spring

O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief...
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst...
~Robert Frost 


 I spend a lot of time at the end of winter desperately trying to find the beginning of spring. It is a slow, gradual process that eludes the calendar. But if I look carefully, nature will show me where she's going, and will soon be screaming her invitation to come out and play. I've watched long enough to count on this.

Likewise, the beginning of fall has it's silent progression. It's hard to discern the dissipation of daylight moments. But then one day, you look up and daylight is gone before you're ready.

After months of hot and humid, cool and wet come as a welcome surprise and a winter warning. Of course fall has it's trumpet blare recessional, too. Most all of us enjoy the relief from the heat, and embrace the cool colors and rich gifts of the harvest. But I always grumble at the loss of the long light, replaced by the long shadow.



This winter, I am committed to enjoy every incremental moment into fall, and then into our Seasonally Affected Quarter. Why? Because I am increasingly aware of the tick of the mortality clock, and don't want to wish any precious days away. Better to look back and appreciate.


There are plenty of good things to revisit. This has been a really good fall season, for me and for the nursery. Plant sales have been good overall. Customers have been wonderfully engaged and enthusiastic. I love that camaraderie. And my plant friends have been so generous with their time and energy and adventurous spirit that I have seen a number of great gardens and visited with a number of incredible experts for fun and for inspiration.

I know I spend a lot of time dreading and hiding from the coming short day, cold day period. But this year, let's not call it winter. Let's call it an opportunity to catch up on all those things I never have time for. I've been reading some again, and can't wait for more time for that. I have a huge stack of books that deserves more than an occasional dusting.

But there's another reason to savor the coming cold days with a warm heart: My big girl has her own new life that will emerge just at the edge of spring. It will be the full circle end and beginning again, from "puddle- wonderful"(1) to a  land "enchant(ed) with amethyst".

"Turn Around"

Where are you going, my little one, little one
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door
Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door
Where are you going, my little one, little one
Little dirndls and petticoats, where have you gone?
Turn around and you're tiny, turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your own
Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your own
Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you're the young girl going out of the door
Where are you going, my little one, little one
Where are you going, my baby, my own? 

Malvina Reynolds 

(1) in Just e.e. cummings

A Rose From Any Other Name Would Not Smell as Sweet

Walk out in your garden and look around. Now tell me the story of your garden. Depending on the kind of garden, that story will be filled with plant names, design ideas, timelines, and, inevitably, the story of the plant origin. Most of those origins, you'll find, are about people, not the plants themselves.

I read a Facebook post this morning from a friend who had just been on a plant shopping trip with other friends. The pictures were of the plants, but all the comments revolved around those fun plant buying trips many had shared. Likewise, that information is now circulating among people she doesn't even know who are maybe making their own plans to visit those nurseries, or perhaps others with friends.

Or think about how many plants in your garden have been shared by you to others, or by others to you.

Here's a white flowered Redbud. It is the Chinese version of our North American Redbud, with the more unusual white flower. But that's not the end of the story.

Cercis chinensis 'Alba'

Although it is a lovely tree and one I enjoy every spring, I also remember it was a gift from my mother. And even then, the very best part of that story is that this very tree came from seed from a botanical garden in China through a seed exchange program. My mother worked as a volunteer at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden when it was first getting started, and her job was to sow and germinate seed that came in from the seed exchange. Once the plants were large enough, those that were extra were sold to raise money for the garden, and this tree was one that she purchased for my new garden.

My most special and sentimental remembrance in the garden is my

Euschaphis japonica in fall

Euschaphis japonica. It is a seedling from seed collected from an island off the coast of South Korea by JC Raulston and Barry Yinger. The seed were handed to me by the late JC Raulston and luckily I got two to germinate. One stands at the entrance to the nursery. JC Raulston was a champion of interesting plant material, and a hero to many of us just coming along in the business. Although we lost JC many years ago, his influence and mentorship still live and blossom here at the nursery, along with that tree.

Rosmarinus 'Blue Spires'

Rosmarinus 'Blue Spires' grows like gangbusters in my garden. It is a selection made by my former Professor  and current friend Dr Allan Armitage.

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst'

Likewise is Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst'. It is one of many selections made by Dr Michael Dirr. I went back to school to get a horticulture degree when my children were 3 and 5. It was the scariest thing I've ever done. It was also the best decision I've ever made.
Dr Dirr was my advisor, and was such an infectious and inspirational character that to this day I look forward to any opportunity I have to talk plants with him.

Forsythia x media 'Beatrix Farrand'

That list goes on and on- Forsythia x media 'Beatrix Farrand' cuttings identified and shared by the great nurseryman Don Shadow.

Edgeworthia papyrifera 'Jitsko's Red'

Or the incredible number and quality of rare plants shared by plant explorer and gardener extraordinaire Ozzie Johnson. Here is one named for his late wife- an extremely beautiful version of Japanese Paperbush.

Rosa spinnossima 'Petite Pink'

There are also plants here that remind me of others. This rose was not one my grandmother knew, nor was she even alive when I learned it. But she treasured her Scottish heritage, and she was something of a small, spiny, tough woman with a bit of a soft pink side. This plant is, in my mind, the embodiment of my grandmother's dearest qualities and serves as sweet way to keep her close to my heart.

When we share our plants, or experiences with plants, very often what we are sharing is ourselves. In some very real sense, I am surrounded by friends, mentors, and loved ones when I am in my garden. And I believe that I populate the gardens of other friends and customers, too. It is another special way to enjoy gardening, and each other.

Next time you remember to stop and smell the roses, take the time to remember their people connections, too.

"Gardeners, like everyone else, live second by second and minute by minute. What we see at one particular moment is then and there before us. But there is a second way of seeing. Seeing with the eye of memory, not the eye of our anatomy, calls up days and seasons past and years gone by." 

                                            Allen Lacy, The Gardener's Eye

The Smallest of Things

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things 

take up the most room in your heart."

AA Milne

It has been a very long, very dark, very cold winter here. I don't like long, cold, dark. I am always trying to think of some way to get thru that slide down the last months of the year and past the early ones of the next. This year, I was given the gift of  a good reason to stay engaged.

 

Oscar came to us as a completely feral kitten, foraging for bits of food we left on the tops of the barn shelves, or bits fallen from the suet bird feeders off our deck. We found that he had figured out how to climb up and over into the insulated rafters of the office as his beloved predecessor Zoey had done. He seemed a lost but very industrious little tyke, and we determined to make him ours.

Oscar

From the painful first days he spent in the bathroom of the office to the wild, playful, and very snuggly mornings we routinely spend now, it has been all about the little things. For the first month I never saw the guy.....didn't even know if it WAS a guy! But I faithfully changed litter, left all sorts of food and treats, warm kitty bed, lights, soft covers to hide in. I spent some portion of everyday sitting on the closed top of the toilet talking to a cat who did not want me there. I read about steps he and I would make towards bonding and stuck to the program no matter how hard it was to go slow. As I focused on our little fellow, I looked hard for the slightest behavior that would indicate I was making a dent. And with each tiny step toward tame, he has also tamed my hard winter heart.

Keteleeria davidiana pollen cones

All of a sudden, I see that spring is about to bust out!! But before it does, I am still enjoying the tiniest of things that will lead, step by step, to the dogwood and azalea blowout most acknowledge to be the advent of spring. Every hour, every day that goes by gives me many small things to savor.

Pollen cones are colorful and interesting structures on conifers; early blooming flowering trees have paved the way; emerging seedling and foliage reveal the magic process behind spring.

Pseudolarix amabilis pollen cones

Magnolia flower

Platycladus orientalis 'Morgan'

Seedling Keteleerias emerging

Picea abies seedling

Abies firma seedling

Lindera reflexa flowers

Asarum maximum 'Ling Ling'

Buxus sempervirens 'Pyramidalis' flowers

I spent two hours in warm sun day before yesterday looking and photographing the miracle unfolding. I recommend a dose of this for any one who's been plagued by long or cold or dark. This treatment will fill those empty corners with a new, light perspective, and open up room in your heart for what is really important.

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Nature of Things

Trees
To be a giant and keep quiet about it,
To stay in one's own place;
To stand for the constant presence of process
And always to seem the same;
To be steady as a rock and always trembling,
Having the hard appearance of death
With the soft, fluent nature of growth,
One's Being deceptively armored,
One's Becoming deceptively vulnerable,
To be so tough, and take the light so well,
Freely providing forbidden knowledge
Of so many things about heaven and earth
For which we should otherwise have no word-
Poems or people are rarely so lovely,
And even when they have great qualities
They tend to tell you rather then exemplify
What they believe themselves to be about,
While from the moving silence of trees,
Whether in storm or calm, in leaf and naked,
Night or day, we draw conclusions of our own,
Sustaining and unnoticed as our breath,
And perilous also-though there has never been
A critical tree-about the nature of things. 

Howard Nemerov

I've spent purposeful hours in a wide range of weather this winter, drawn by the blue of the sky and the hope of the sun's warmth. It is easy to sit back in cold short days trying to wait it out until spring seems closer. But if you do, you miss so much.

Twice now I have toured older Arboretums to admire the big trees. Twice now I have come away with sense of order; a humble awe; a big smile. 

Pinus glabra

On the UNC campus in Chapel Hill we toured the Coker Arboretum in the 75 degree weather of this winter's late December.

Quercus alba

    I have been here many times, and still find gems until then unseen. Most magnificent among those grand Coker specimens I found this time was the glorious Pinus glabra. Pinus glabra is a tree found on the coastal plains of the southern United States, from southern South Carolina south to northern Florida and west to southern Louisiana. Outside of it's current range, it clearly continues to perform very well over a long period of time. I have seen this tree in more southern settings, but none as large and grand as this one.

Wonderful oaks abound in both the Coker Arboretum and the UGA campus Arboretum and many other specimens, both rare and common. All invite reflection and admiration.

Eucalyptus

Quercus stellata

In addition to the grand scale of the great grandfather trees, there is also the lure of the small scale. Would I really say "tree hugging distance"? Probably not. But especially in winter, the details reveal themselves, and capture the attention that begs for a closer look. The texture, color, and shape of tree bark is an ornamental characteristic that is very often overlooked, yet can be definitive in determining identification of a species. On a recent walk in extreme cold weather with a group of plant enthusiasts, we spent a good amount of time on the identifying details of bark, habit, branch structure. Although winter ID can be difficult, by the time the walk was over, they were much more confident and attuned to the small details, and, I think, much more appreciative of the nuances that distracted us all from the cold conditions.

Big old trees/ blue sky

Quercus nigra

Quercus rubra

Ulmus americana

Calocedrus decurrens

Betula nigra

Sequoia sempervirens

With just a little effort, one can see each tree as a member of a group, but then also as an individual. Most tree species have a recognizable habit as they mature. But not every tree will look the same over time. Careful attention to these details can reveal very special plants that stand out. Making friends with individual trees is a journey into your own sensibilities, exposing wonder, and a continuity often interrupted by our busy lives.

Eucalyptus

Firmiana simplex

The older I get, the more that continuity seems important, and there is a lot to learn from the study of trees. As Nemerov says, "Poems or people are rarely so lovely...." and rarely such exemplar models of the nature of things.

THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF BIG TREES